Are our rabbis turning to socialism for spiritual salvation?
Dr. S. Margoshes, editor of the Day asks this question in connec-nection with the declaration which 241 reform rabbis signed endorsing the policies of the Histadruth, the Socialist Labor Party of Palestine.
To what extent are the rabbis really in earnest in carrying out the principles to which they now seem to give their unqualified adherence? Dr. Margoshes asks. Is it a matter of lip service, of a pose, or of a genuine, deep-seated conviction? We know that most of the rabbis, who so eloquently preach social justice and the elimination of the profit system, are just as eloquent in their praise of the pillars of the Jewish church and of Jewish society, who are simultaneously the outstanding protagonists of capitalism.
We have heard of but few rabbis leaving their pulpits to take up their posts in the picket line. We still have to hear of a rabbinical sermon denouncing the Jewish banker unloading upon the unsuspecting public spurious bonds of a South American Republic and making handsome profits by the transaction. Similarly we are still waiting for the rabbi who will arise in holy wrath to castigate the manufacturer belonging to his congregation and paying starvation wages to the workers who create the wealth for him.
On the day when the rabbis will come down to specific cases of social injustice, instead of prating in general phrases about the abolition of the profit system, we shall have more confidence in the rabbinic brand of Socialism.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
